


Wavelengths

by kitausuret



Category: Avengers (Comics), Marvel, Marvel (Comics), Marvel 616, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, marvel silver age
Genre: Canon - Comics, Eventual Romance, F/M, Family, Family Drama, Female Friendship, Friendship, Gen, Humanity, Male-Female Friendship, Marvel Comics - Freeform, Other, Robot Feels, Romance, Silver Age, Team Dynamics, Unresolved Romantic Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-01
Updated: 2015-11-17
Packaged: 2018-04-24 07:39:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 18,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4910968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitausuret/pseuds/kitausuret
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wanda Maximoff is no stranger to alienation from the world she lives in. Even after officially joining the Avengers' roster, she and her brother continue to face mistrust from the people they vow to protect. In spite of that, though, she has met those even stranger than herself - aliens from far-off worlds, Inhumans on their own planet, synthetic folk, all ranging in shades of morality. She has seen humans who have lost all humanity and aliens who seem more human than anyone else. But what does she make of the stoic android so often in their midst? (Set between Avengers #79-108)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Schumann Resonance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Historian's Note: The following takes place after the events of Avengers #81 ("When a Legend Dies!") and before #84 ("The Sword and the Sorceress!")

He was an oddity to her. The only one who seemed more foreign than the rest. Not that it was a concern, of course; more a passing discomfort than anything. None of the others in the team gathered here knew what it was like to be able to touch the mind of another. This was to their benefit, perhaps. No, she couldn't read minds; not easily, anyhow. It was more like a buzz of white noise whenever she was around other organics.

Humans had the most complicated signals. From them she sensed high pitches, low pitches, signals like music and like radio waves and thoughts that felt like Heaven and Hell... She mostly ignored them these days. Animals had signals, too. Dogs were simple - ecstasy, grief, fear, and anger. Cats were guarded, as if able to sense her prying; _what are you doing, human, trying to poke into my brain like that, stop that!_ Even reptiles gave off tiny pings in her mind's radar. The noise; the reassurance of life around her was comforting.

Yet he was silent.

Their newest team member hardly seemed less human than she and her brother, or even the Inhumans residing deep in the mountains on the other side of the world. Since turning on Ultron, he had become a vital and valued part of the team. She hadn’t been there for his initial induction, but had returned not long after Vision had pledged his loyalty. He'd improved on his mimicry of human speech in recent weeks and worked with Stark on appearance altering. Wanda could read emotion on his face and in his body language. He gave off heat like the rest of them, synthetic though his body was. At times, he had even displayed understanding of complex emotions such as moral struggle, compassion, and fear. But how much of that was innate, and how much was learned? Did it matter?

"Miss Maximoff?"

She started. _Okay, Wanda, act natural._ She forced herself to laugh. "I told you that you can call me Wanda when we're not on a mission." Wanda met his eyes long enough for the contact to seem friendly.

The rest of the active team had gone off on a mission yesterday, with the exception of herself, Vision, and Janet Pym. Jan’s work kept her busy, so Wanda and Vision had agreed to keep security watch in light of the recent Zodiac attacks. The infamous cartel of powered individuals had given them quite the headache recently with their connection to Cornelius van Lunt. They’d already broken into the Stark Mansion once, and sometimes eyes could catch what security alarms couldn’t.

Wanda didn’t think she was concentrating on the screens too much, though. Neither was she particularly inclined to.

His lack of telepathic signal wasn't the only thing that gave her slight pause. It was also his eyes. They were dark as night and only held a very slight shine when aggravated. She'd never seen the synthezoid express joy or laughter or anything more than a very tiny smile. Maybe it didn't come naturally. Maybe she was being unfair.

 _Or maybe it's the job we've all taken on,_ she mused. Wanda supposed she didn't do a lot of smiling while taking on Hydra agents for the tenth time or trying to keep Pietro from literally running headfirst to his own peril.

He wasn't paying attention to the monitors they were supposed to be watching. Or was he? The android was an astonishingly good multi-tasker. "My presence bothers you," he stated.

Wanda silently cursed herself. "That's not true, Vision, I.."

"You do not need to try and protect my emotions." He turned back to the camera feeds. "In any case, I am well-versed in the nuances of human language.

"If you do not mind my asking, though, why?" The Vision almost sounded a little hurt.

_Who's covering their feelings, now?_

"We have only had one or two missions together, but if there are more, we should be certain there is nothing to make us distrust the other. Mistrust destroys unity."

Steve Rogers' words exactly. And, a very logical statement. Wouldn't expect less from a rob... Wanda grimaced at her own thought. Maybe it was a good thing he didn't have even an inkling of her inner thoughts.

"..R..right, well.." She cleared her throat and sat up a little straighter. This was work, right? The last thing either of them wanted was to negatively affect the team. “You already know that most of my abilities are dependent upon the organic world, yes?” The best way she could describe it was still as _magic_ , even though she knew by now that it was genetic mutation. “It’s biology, rather than technology. And every living thing around me gives off a... a kind of signal.”

He tilted his head. “I take it, then, that you sense no ‘signal’ from me.”

“And that’s okay, I mean to say, I can’t read Iron Man usually, or Magneto when he has his cowl on, or... Ultron...” Wanda’s voice trailed off. He stared at her in response to what probably seemed like an accusation, or at least a comparison to his infamous creator. She thought about trying to reconcile that statement, but knew she’d likely get herself into further trouble. She twitched her lips and turned back to the computer screens.

They sat in silence for a good minute before Vision broke it. “Have my synthetic abilities not proved useful in our missions?”

“Of course they have!” she insisted. “No one has an issue with it, Vision, but you asked why I act uncomfortable around you and so I told you and that’s that.”

“Surely there is a way to lessen this issue, Miss Ma.. Wanda.”

“It’s not an issue.”

“Your blood pressure is rising. Are you-”

“ _Not. An. Issue._ ”

His tone seemed almost hurt by her dismissal. “I only wanted to-”

“Do you not have an ‘off button’?!” she snapped, and immediately regretted it. Vision looked as if she had just smacked him across the face. “...Wait, Vision, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say it like...”

“I understand,” he said in a low voice. The synthezoid didn’t look at her as he stood. “I am certain the Captain will not need both of us for many missions.”

“Vision,” she started, but he was already shimmering into intangibility.

“Good day, Miss Maximoff.”

And he walked through the wall, not even bothering with the door.

 

Wanda gave a sigh and rested her head in her hands. _Great. Now I’ll be stuck in here by myself until the rest of the team gets back._ Janet was in New York, helping manage the Avengers’ affairs for the short time her husband didn’t require her assistance in Alaska. She was working on that new synthetic fiber for T’challa’s suit, though.

 _Maybe she should sew me a dunce cap._ She also knew for a fact that Steve Rogers had expressed interest in seeing how compatible she and Vision were in unusual combat situations. Even Dr. Strange over in Greenwich Village had said that between her reality-bending hexes and Vision’s density and solar manipulation, they would be a formidable matchup. The stark differences in their abilities only added to the versatility of the Avengers dynamic.

She _could_ just bottle down her discomfort and do the job - that’s what she’d done ever since she and Pietro joined the American team. Over time, the feeling faded. When they had traveled back to Europe in an attempt to reestablish her powers, their homeland had seemed cold and quiet in comparison. America was loud and rude and bustling, especially in the so-called “Big Apple”, but at least she didn’t have to worry about being tied to a stake (except perhaps metaphorically, by the press). Now, she couldn’t imagine _not_ being an Avenger.

Maybe, then, time was all she needed. Time to process. Time to become used to the android’s presence. He really wasn’t heartless. Wanda would always remember the way he’d stood before the collective strength of the Avengers, lest van Lunt had made good on his promise to put a bullet in her head. She’d been caught in a moment of weakness and Vision had done everything in his power to keep her safe. What a stupid, _illogical_ move that had been.

 _Was it really that, though?_ She could rationalize the situation as well as he. She was as vital a member as any other Avenger, after all, and for him to lose a teammate while on a mission could compromise his trust with the rest of the team. He had worked hard to prove himself in the wake of both his initial awakening and the coming of Ultron-6. Whatever virus of sorts had been in his programming was long gone, but human memory was just as good as any computer.

And yet… _And yet_ …

Vision did not seem as bound to human notions of pride and bravado as the rest of them. His mind was, perhaps, equally organic and synthetic. Did an android such as himself have wants; needs; desires? Were they the same? Any who claimed he felt _nothing_ had never seen him face a dire situation.

Her previous discomfort now clouded over with guilt. _Excellent, Wanda. You thank the one who saved your hide by insulting him the same way others insult you and Pietro._ Wanda huffed and sunk down into the office chair. She lifted a hand and let the strands of a hex sphere surround it. Too bad she couldn’t bend space-time as well as she could chance.

She leaned back in the chair to observe the monitors again. The Vision was in the mansion’s center courtyard, likely recharging the solar jewel on his forehead.

What else was going through his head, though, she’d never know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Thanks for taking a gander at the first chapter, friend! This is my first Scarlet Vision fic and I'm very excited to share it with you all. They are my favourite dynamic in probably the whole 1963-1996 run of Avengers, and Marvel's odd couple supreme can always use a little more love.
> 
> (Note 10/1/15 2200 hrs: I made a couple changes and added some, and corrected a location marker. Too bad I can't have Stan Lee as my editor! Oops!)
> 
> Here's another tidbit for ya - the second chapter is already completed. Feedback appreciated as always!


	2. Infrasound

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the wake of the Brain-Child incident on Earth-716 (Avengers #86), the Avengers reconvene and set their next plans in place.

“Vision told me of your exemplary work, Wanda. You should be proud of yourself.”

She smiled but scoffed at Steve Rogers’ compliment. “He was but _ten years old_ , Captain.” Wanda turned to Clint Barton, still about three or so meters tall. “Goliath is the one who subdued Arnold Sutton in the end.”

“...Hm?” He looked up, seeming surprised by everyone looking at him. He had a cup of coffee big enough to be a coffeepot in itself. Clint took an undignified gulp and set it down. “Er... just, y’know, doing the job.” He shrugged uncomfortably, and his gaze lingered a moment too long on the Scarlet Witch. “Had a bit of a weird childhood myself, and I was just shootin’ arrows back then. Nickname like Brain-Child gotta make any kid a little bitter. Don’t pass on the credit, Witchie, much as I ’preciate it.” His wide smile betrayed his pride, though. It struck her a bit odd, but she ignored it for the moment.

It had been a strange mission, to say the least. The twins, Vision, and Clint had all been swept into a kind of space-time vortex and transported to what they had dubbed Earth-716. They and the Squadron Supreme (perhaps ironically, composed of a few that were in fact villains on this world) had worked together to subdue the incredibly jaded Brain-child. She certainly hoped never to face such an angry 10-year-old every again... especially not one capable of arming nuclear warheads.1

“All are to be commended on their work last mission,” T’challa cut in with an air of finality. “Including our allies from the other world.”

“And you two as well, for bringing us home,” her brother added, looking to Thor and T’challa, “and Iron Man. Wherever he’s gone.”

He nodded in acknowledgment to Pietro and stood. “I thank you, but unfortunately I must take my leave.” T’challa and the Captain passed a look between them and then both started away.

“Adjourned. Everyone get some rest. Got a bad feeling the next disaster could be just over the New York skyline.”

Clint snorted. “Like every damn week...” He, Thor, and Pietro all excused themselves, leaving only the Scarlet Witch and the Vision.

 

She gazed across the round table at her compatriot. “You told Cap I did a good job?”

“He asked for my unbiased opinion regarding your abilities since regaining them. Pietro is obviously not the one to ask regarding his own sister, and Goliath...” Vision’s lip quirked up. Wanda chuckled and mirrored the sentiment. She knew what he meant. Clint Barton was brilliant in his own way, but she could imagine his assessment.

_Yeah, I mean, I guess she did great, girlie waved her hands and performed her magic just like always, ’course I had to step in and save her from that big amoeba thing but c’mon, no one was a match for that thing except Goliath! I tell ya, givin’ up the old bow an’ arrow wasn’t so bad..._

And her brother, well...

_Sure, Wanda did a great job, but what were we doing in that situation anyways? Do you know what it was like trying to help her function while trying not to antagonize the people who once tried to kill the both of you? You all almost lost her! One of your own! My sister! And I swear if... What? No, no, I know she can take care of herself, but that’s... I know she’s twelve minutes older than me, I don’t care, I’m taller!.._

“You are right,” she finally said. “As usual. I suppose-” Wanda paused. “I suppose you taught yourself well, then.”

He gazed at her as if knowing what she’d almost said.

_I suppose Ultron built you pretty well._

She shook off the feeling and made herself smile. “I do appreciate your confidence in me. I know I’m not fast like Pietro, or strong like Thor, or brilliant and quick like Janet, but I... I am trying.”

“You are more than trying,” he said. The sense of urgent sincerity in his voice gave her pause. “You have compassion and are thoughtful and deliberate in every action you take.” Vision stood and started towards her. There it was; that _light_ in his eyes she so rarely saw. “You are at this table, Wanda, because you have _earned it_. You do not see it yourself, but every hero sees their failings more than their successes. It keeps you humble. It keeps you...” He stopped. The synthezoid finally broke the gaze he’d kept trained on her.

“It keeps you human.”

She opened her mouth to speak, but all she could manage was, “I.. I’m sorry, I-I don’t know what to...”

To her dismay, the light blinked out from his dark eyes like an extinguished candle. “That is my assessment,” he stated. “And you are welcome. I hope my words have not further troubled you.”

“No, no, not.. not at all, Vision, I’m just-”

“Surprised?” He turned and started out of the room. “Perhaps, then, I am not so simple a machine as you think.”

He dissolved into an ultra-light density and passed through the ceiling, not even sparing her a glance before vanishing from view.

Wanda started to stand, but knew it pointless to try and go after him. She _still_ hadn’t formally apologized for snapping at him in the comm room that day a week or so ago. What was she supposed to say? _Sorry for calling you a computer. Sorry for dehumanizing you even though you’re not human. Neither am I, so hey, no harm done, right?_ Except that she would always be able to pass herself off as human. Sure, she was public in her identity as the Avenger called the Scarlet Witch, but for Vision there was no hiding. He needed allies, not tongue-tied women with a pension for saying the wrong thing at the wrong time.

 _He caught me off guard,_ she reassured herself. For the first time, she’d almost felt something. She’d felt an inkling of a spark, like when a cold wind passes by and raises goosebumps on one’s arms. Vision had surprised her, no doubt; just not quite in the way he seemed to have thought. The emotion hadn’t shocked her – the twinge on her subconscious had. And she’d blown a chance to connect.

Such had happened with Arnold Sutton. Clint had had the intuition to realize that, and in the end used that fact to save both the boy and two worlds. No, Wanda didn’t think her teammate would go running to Ultron or even take his leave of the Avengers. But he had seemed so very sincere… and she’d responded with nothing but harsh words.

She cursed aloud and managed to shatter a lightbulb in her frustration. Of course, it was that exact moment that the Avengers’ chairman himself entered back in the conference room. He cast her a slightly concerned look.

“I’ll.. I’ll fix that,” she muttered, and waved her hand. The lightbulb pieced itself back together, but could only flicker pitifully.

Captain Rogers started to say something, but instead forced a smile. “Came in to tell you that I’ll be one of those accompanying T’challa back to Wakanda. You, Pietro, and Vision will be in charge of holding down the fort while we’re gone. We don’t foresee any upcoming problems with Zodiac, but our friends in the Baxter Building have come across some unusual findings.” He tapped his satellite radio. “Keep it on, but I don’t expect we’ll need it. I sent the dossier to each of you.” Rogers shrugged. “I’d say the odds of anything happening are slim to none, but probability doesn’t mean much where you’re concerned.” He started back to the door.

“We cross the pond tomorrow morning. Oh, and Wanda?” The American’s smile was disarming. “You can always just get a new lightbulb. There’s a reason our base is owned by a billionaire.”

“Right.”

When the door closed behind him, she tangled her fingers in her hair and laid her face down on the table. _Good going today, Wanda,_ she berated herself. _Black Bolt’s a more eloquent speaker and he’s a damn mute!_

At least none of her spells were entirely dependent upon vocal ability.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enter.. the rest of the team! Well, a handful of them, anyways. Very happy to finally cameo some more people, and though most of this story will focus on the sorceress and the android, the world is bigger than them. What does the future hold? Only time will tell!
> 
> Also hey folks, I'm trying to adjust this little by little to try and make it at least semi-approachable to those unfamiliar with comic canon. Trying to keep flashback scenes still relevant to the overarching idea, but if you've got any feedback, lay it on me. Thanks for reading!


	3. Skywave Propogation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the rest of the active team overseas, Wanda, Pietro, and Vision have been tasked with holding down the fort (oh, and that butler fellow, too).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heads up! A couple descriptions this chapter might get a little graphic.  
> The following takes place during the time of Avengers #87 ("Look Homeward, Avenger!"). Heavy references to Wanda's encounters with Arkon, ruler of Polemachus (#75 & #84), a warlord who twice captured her and attempted to force her to be his queen.

The next day, even before dawn, a group of Avengers took off towards T’challa’s homeland, leaving only their inhuman members with headquarters. At first, Wanda had been glad for the respite to potentially hone her abilities and take a much-needed mental breather, but between the Vision’s awkward coolness and her brother’s patronizing attitude.. It didn’t long at all for her to wish she was going once more into the fray.

“I see the way he looks at you, sister.”

She jumped a little, absorbed in an ancient text brought back from their motherland. The dim lights of the library flickered in response to her mental start. She glared at Pietro and set down the book, feigning ignorance. “Oh? And who is that?” Wanda let her voice cross the line into sarcasm. “Because it is not as if _I_ could possibly determine the attitudes of the motley crew I work with every day. It is not as if I-”

“Well from how you act around him, you seem clueless enough to me!” Pietro argued back. “My god, he is as a hound sniffing out prey, and you are oblivious even when he is the largest presence in the room.”

The facade fell. _Wait, what?_ Her thoughts darted. Captain America? No, no; he was her friend and her comrade, and one of the first to have voiced faith in herself and her brother... but also a man quite smitten with a long-lost love and the current budding one. Thor? That was even _more_ ridiculous. Jane Foster, though lost in limbo, remained close to his heart, and seemed to have recently rekindled relations with the ardent warrior, Lady Sif. She cycled through the other names, knowing that he couldn’t possibly mean the android among them.

His brainwaves moved too rapidly for him to even notice her familiar mental presence, and so she probed, just barely--

“Clint _Barton?_ ” she realized, dumbfounded. “I mean- Yes, I’m... I’m well aware of his passing interest in me, but I don’t much care, brother.” Wanda snorted and picked up the book of runes. “The man is rude, and childish, and arrogant beyond belief.”

Pietro seemed satisfied with her answer. He rocked back on his heels and, as usual, seemed eager to get moving. “Good. Then, you should know that if any man attempts to lay a hand on _my_ sister, they will have Quicksilver to go through!”

“I don’t need your protection, Pietro.”

She sighed under her breath. Masculinity could be so fragile.

“I took the last monitor watch; I swear Vision has been up there for hours.” She focused, plucked a random book off the shelf, and telekinetically hurled it at her twin. “Go relieve him, and maybe learn a thing or two.”

Pietro looked at the cover. “ _War and Peace_?”

“Fitting, isn’t it? Now, go, go; you’re distracting me.”

He frowned at being dismissed, but turned and sped away in a flash.

 _Clint Barton, huh?_ Wanda frowned at the thought. _As good and well-meaning a man as he is, I don’t see what he might see in me - nor I, in him! He is a comrade, and even a friend, but..._

What had Natasha told her that one time? _Don’t date your co-workers._ Besides, Clint had a whole world of women to chase. And she couldn’t help but feel that his apparent interests lay in desperation and availability than any true feelings. With Janet happily married for years now, and his aforementioned lost love having rejected him thrice, she was the only active woman Avenger he saw lately.

She tried to shake off the absurd feeling. _Fine. I’ll tell him off. And if he persists, well - I’ve more than a mere slingshot to fell_ that _Goliath!_

Just as she was about to become reabsorbed in a new conceptual spell, a blur sped past before circling back in front of her. Wanda slammed down the book and stared at him. “ _What?_ ”

“Where did you find this? I think I’d rather..”

“ _OUT!_ ” she hollered, and the text of _War and Peace_ burst into flames. Pietro squawked and dropped it, and was off again before his sister could unleash the fullness of her potential wrath. She pressed her hand against her head. Ugh, _men!_ Another wave of her hand and the book extinguished, the pages unharmed.

She took a breath and closed her eyes. _Calm down, girl. You’re just stressed and still mentally exhausted from being flung all around the multiverse._ She moved aside the book and laid her head down. Maybe she just needed a catnap. Maybe she could just...

 

_Another world. A strange world. A familiar world. Primordial, but advanced in its weaponry. Had to wait; had to wait for the best moment to strike and make an escape, but when, when? Arkon had her, and she wouldn’t be a damsel in distress, she was strong and she could do this! She rolled off the back of the reptilian steed, but someone caught her, it was-_

**_I’ve got you, girlie, don’t worry._ **

_-Clint Barton?_

**_I shall make you my queen, and you will watch me rule, and none shall oppose me as I wage war for an eternity!_ **

_It was him, it was_ him _again, and she opened her mouth to yell_

**_no, no, I won’t go with you, I’ll make you regret ever taking me, I could expel you into oblivion with one thought you wretched vile warmongering pig_ **

_and in response, Arkon merely grinned. He cackled and the ropes dropped from her wrists. She pushed away, focusing her powers and grasping into the universe for something, anything._

**_Are you so sure of that, Witch? Who are you without your mutant abilities?_ **

_His mind seemed to attack her from within. If others were a wave, he was a tsunami, throwing shards of glass into her psyche just by looking at her. She felt like she was burning from the inside out, and he grabbed her by the wrist, and took her up, up, up, higher and higher and the air grew thinner and she couldn’t breathe; couldn’t breathe-_

“Miss! Miss Maximoff!”

She awoke with a gasp, and lifted her face so quickly stars danced before her eyes. She tried to clear her vision enough to see a familiar face before her.

“Jarvis?” she rasped. Wanda touched her hairline. She was sweating. Her whole body was sweating but she felt ice-cold. The library felt too bright. “I- oh..” She leaned back and looked warily upon the Stark mansion butler. “What happened?”

“A nightmare, perhaps, Miss Maximoff. You seemed terribly unwell.” He offered her a glass of water. “Your brother requested I check on you. A well-meaning young man, that Pietro.” Jarvis hesitated and then glanced at the chair on the opposite side of the table. “If I may..?”

Wanda chewed her lip before nodding. Jarvis, the ever-faithful servant (and the unofficial gatekeeper of their base) was often a kindly ear. He never revealed much at all about himself, but had a perception from the outside that the rest of them lacked. Sometimes, it was _nice_ to have someone normal on the edge of their circle.

Besides, he could hold his own unusually well. Jarvis had seen it all.

“I... I haven’t the faintest what it was, Mister Jarvis.” She set aside her untouched water. “I think it was something to do with what happened on the other Earth, but nothing’s been quite the same since Arkon returned my powers to me. I... was stronger the second time he tried to take me, and yet, he still haunts me. But there was something different this time.”

“‘This time’? You have these dreams often, Miss Maximoff?”

She shook her head. “No, not often. Only once or twice since my capture. I... Pietro doesn’t know. I’ve kept this shielded from him.” Wanda grimaced. “Please don’t tell him, Mister Jarvis.”

“Tell him?” An odd smile touched the old man’s face. “There are many things, dear girl, I have kept secret. You are hardly the first powerful woman I have met in my lifetime. All this to say, you have my confidence.”

“Thank you.” Wanda let her consciousness edge out just a tad, reading the slow, steady waves. He was guarded yet calm. She backed off, knowing that she had no reason to distrust him. “I saw... something terrible. I don’t know what it was. I’m not even sure if I saw it, more than I _felt_ it. I know in my heart of hearts that Arkon is not as malevolent as my mind crafts him to be, but I can’t help but feel there is more to this. The air.. it was so thin.. and I was freezing.. couldn’t breathe..”

She shuddered and hugged herself.

“I don’t know what I’m doing, Jarvis. What do I even want? Everyone else has got it figured out, but I’m just trying to fit in where I don’t.”

He sat in silence for a long moment. When the old butler looked up, he looked as sharp as any man who’d stepped out in front as many aliens and mutants and evil robots as Jarvis had.

“Let me tell you something, Wanda - may I call you that?” At her nod, he went on, “I have had the pleasure and misfortune of managing this mansion for far too many years. I take it upon myself to see that the residents of it at least have their physical needs met. Beyond my contract with the Stark family, it is the very least I can do.

“Throughout the years, I have met every man and woman you believe has it _‘figured out’,_ and I am going to tell you that none of them have it _‘figured out’_. Not one. You lot are such a... a motley crew, it seems inconceivable you can do any good at all.” He stopped her before she could voice protest. “...But you _do_ , and that is the strength of the Avengers. You need each other. Your chairman is fond of saying something, is he not?”

“Hm. Yes, ‘United we stand; divided we fall’, but he’s been saying that since he spent his days slamming his shield into Nazi heads.”

Jarvis put a hand on her shoulder. “Perhaps, Wanda, it is _more_ than a catchphrase.” He gave a gentle squeeze of reassurance before standing. “I’ll leave you to your reading. Good day, Miss Maximoff.”

“Thank you, Mister Jarvis. Good day.”

She watched as he retrieved the platter he’d brought in here and exited the door as professional as always. Apparently, Vision wasn’t the _only_ complicated character in this mansion.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's this? Did Michaela actually throw in an _Agent Carter_ reference? If you caught it, good eye!  
>  Really enjoyed writing this one. You'll start to notice there are actually several facets to this story and that I'm a really big fan of exploring many relationships. If you're squinting at the screen trying to figure out why Clint Barton has his eye on anyone except a certain Russian lady or maybe that Bobbi Morse, take a breath.  
> Thanks for reading! Stay tuned; I've already got Chapter Four in the works!


	4. Decimetre Bands

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While most of the team is in Wakanda, their compatriots at the Baxter Building have sent the remaining 3 Avengers in New York a message regarding a far-away enemy... which may not be so far. But all Avengers have demons in their pasts, and the oddest among them are certainly no exception..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Historian's Note: The following takes place during Avengers #87, and references the flashback portions of Avengers #185-6 and Uncanny Avengers Vol. 2 #4 (both on origins of Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch).

Wanda did indeed manage to buckle down and adjust her abilities to perform two vanishing spells. One, unfortunately, resulted in a first-edition, 18th-Century text being sucked into oblivion… But Tony Stark wouldn’t notice just _one_ book being gone, right? Unless his iron-clad bodyguard told him, of course. She’d figure out how to bring it back at some point.

She put the book back with a sigh. _I should apologize to Pietro. It wasn’t good to snap at him like that._ Talking with Jarvis had been a much-needed step back after all the insanity she’d faced lately. As overprotective as her brother could be, he was right about one thing – when they hadn’t had anyone else, they’d had each other. She owed him at least that much.

 

She made her way up to the comm room and pushed the door open. “Pietro, I’m sorry I-”

“Wanda! I’m glad you’re here,” he piped up. Much to her surprise, Vision was there as well, leaning over Pietro’s shoulder at a text communication console. “I was about to radio down to the library. Just got something from the Baxter Building.”

An odd sense of dread came over her. “Really?” Vision barely looked at her when he stepped aside to let her see the message. Wanda tried to ignore his presence and scanned the screen. “Wow… ‘activity detected in the reaches of the Andromeda Galaxy’… Isn’t the only way we can see anything is when there are… ah, what had Doctor Richards said…”

“When there are massive energy discharges,” Vision said. “Perhaps yet another battle has ensued between the Kree and Skrull peoples.”

“They seem to fight a _lot_ ,” Pietro muttered. “Don’t see why Sue Storm would send this off our way, though. We haven’t had a single issue with either of those lunatic races since the Fantastic Four fought them off a while back.”

“It helps if you read the _whole message_ , brother,” she remarked. “It says right here, ‘…Be on the lookout for any strange occurrences in the near future. The Skrull have impersonated the four of us before, and can take on almost any disguise. If anyone seems to rise to sudden power, keep an eye on them. Feel free to send a communique, but there’s a chance we’ll be unavailable to assist you. Best of luck, Avengers. Yours, Susan Storm.’”

“Still doesn’t tell us why the Skrull should be _our_ concern.”

“But it does, Pietro.”

The twins turned to Vision. He stared straight ahead at the screen, pitch-black eyes moving only enough to tell he was scanning it again.

“It is all connected. The Kree-Skrull war; the Skrull impersonators; the threat to Earth... There is clearly something here that one of them wants. Perhaps it will turn the tide of the war in one race’s favor or the other. Whether we are their primary target or not is irrelevant. The fact that the Fantastic Four successfully expelled the Skrull infiltrators from Earth is reason enough for them to be alarmed.”

The three fell silent. It wouldn’t be the first nor the last intergalactic affair the Avengers had faced. Nevertheless, when extra-terrestrials were involved, things tended to become more complicated than even the usual complications in their missions.

“...We should inform the Captain,” Wanda said, and reached for the console that would connect them straight to Steve Rogers.

Vision grabbed her hand, his eyes suddenly bright. “We should not.” A strange surge coursed through her hand in that split-second, and the android must have felt it, too, because he immediately let go. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Pietro staring at Vision. Wanda saw him _shrink back_ at her brother’s glare and quickly added, “Captain Rogers requested radio silence except in an emergency. This is not an emergency, not yet.” Vision stared at his hand as if expecting it to dissolve.

Wanda narrowed her eyes at him. Was the Vision actually _distracted?_ The sensation had passed for her, strange though it was.

“I... I require a respite.” He clenched his fist and swept past them. The synthezoid stopped at the wall, seemingly dumbfounded. Then, he used the door, but only after taking a split-second to remember how it worked.

 

“That was odd.”

“To hell with _odd_ , sister; let me see your hand.”

His name might have been Quicksilver, but a sibling’s intuition was even faster. Wanda yanked her hand away and frowned at him. “I’m _fine_. I’m more concerned about Vision. Have you ever seen him act like that? Just get up and leave? He even used the door!”

“Maybe you fried his circuits,” Pietro remarked with a snort.

“ _Pietro!_ ”

“Oh, as if you have never...” His voice trailed off and he looked at her. His blue eyes grew icy. “Wanda, don’t tell me you’re becoming _fond_ of the resident robot.”

“I’m not _fond_ of him, I just... He’s an Avenger, too.” Blood rushed to her cheeks, and she fought it back. She masked her embarrassment with annoyance. “And from what I hear, _you_ have a bit of a reputation you need to repair. I heard how you flew off the handle at Captain Rogers.”

Dumbfounded, he shot back, “I - you’d been kidnapped! And he was standing around doing nothing! And you were-!”

“ _Fully capable of taking care of myself!_ ” she yelled. “ _You_ went to the Avengers because you knew you couldn’t rescue me yourself, and that’s fine; that is exactly what you should have done. But then you went and antagonized them even further like the rock-brained idiot you are!” Wanda felt the anger rising in her, feeding her emotions, the static in the air tensing about them.

 “I’m not saying I wasn’t scared. I was terrified, Pietro.” Hot tears threatened to spill from her eyes, and she tried to shake them away. “I have nightmares, Pietro, every day. I.. I can feel that _madman_ , every day!” She clenched her jaw to keep from shaking. “But I need you to trust me. And to trust this team. We are alive and we are doing good because of them!”

The anger finally dissipated, leaving her exhausted and desperate.

“Vision is a good man. He’s just as lost as the rest of us.”

Pietro frowned. It hadn’t been so long ago the two of them were part of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Before that, they’d been on the run from the mutants and humans alike who’d hunted them down. Even their parents on Wundagore Mountain, Romania had been attacked and probably killed because their children were easy scapegoats in a superstitious community. At their father’s order, Pietro had gathered her up in his arms, fueled by adrenaline, and shot off the fastest he’d ever run

_I am dead already!_

_Tată, no! We won’t leave you!_

and Wanda had screamed as a man struck the back of their father’s head with a rod before turning to them. Their family’s carriage had been up in flames. Their mother was already dead. The only home they’d ever known would be nothing but ashes in a matter of hours. The community they’d known had gone from smiles and general tolerance of the gypsy camp to fear and rage in days.

Wundagore Mountain had been all they knew. Sometimes, they saw Wundagore Mountain in the world they now were supposed to be protecting.

“There is no _‘rest of us’_ , Wanda.” His voice grew icy. “Look about you, sister. We have little in common with the Avengers, much less the people in this country, or even this world. You have seen how they judge us when they recognize us on the streets. Not only are we foreigners but also mutants.”

“Well, what about… what about Captain Rogers, and even Hank and Jan?”

“You really don’t see? At least they were human to begin with! Cap is a hero, and so are the Pyms.”

“All the more reason, then, why you should maybe be a little kinder to Vision! You and I, at least, can _pass_ for human.”

Pietro scoffed and turned away from her. “This is pointless. Talk to me when you’ve come to your senses.”

She stared off at him, livid, fingernails digging into her palms. “Fine!” she shouted after him. “Run away! That is what you do _best_ , anyways! _COWARD!_ ”

He stopped, and for a moment she worried she’d gone too far. But she dug her heels in and stared at his back. The waves radiating off her sibling were red-hot and of such a high frequency it almost made her head hurt. Then, wordlessly, he stalked out and slammed the door shut.  

Wanda clenched her fists and muttered a string of curses under her breath. She forced herself to sit down and take a breath. What she really wanted was to lash out with every fiber of her being; to create or destroy or _anything_. This was a room of million-dollar equipment, though, and wouldn’t do to be on the receiving end of her hex powers. Maybe it was time to take Clint up on those combat lessons; burn off some negative feelings that way.

An image of his face morphing into Arkon’s filled her mind. Wanda grit her teeth and willed it away. She’d at least wait for him to get over whatever _interest_ he had in her.

She pulled up to the communication hub and tapped into the low-priority messenger. She needed to talk to someone. She’d have to come up with an excuse, but…

> \JARVIS› PING  
>  \JARVIS› connection secure  
>  C:\Users\WandaWitchie› MSG JanWasp  
>  ‹Loading…›  
>  \JARVIS› ‘Welcome to the Avengers Communication Network! You are messaging JanWasp’  
>  C:\Users\WandaWitchie› MSGBODY  
>  ‘Hi Janet, I need to ask…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Woo! Now, wasn't that fun? And by fun, I mean I want to cry over the Maximoffs and all they went through together. I'm trying to be careful about not letting them know anything they're not supposed to know yet. Also, tiny Fantastic Four cameo aaaaaand a wink to the fact that in the MCU, Tony Stark names the computer system after Jarvis. How 'bout that old school command prompt? (I'm still laughing at the idea of Wanda in front of a black screen with green type.) 
> 
> Thanks for reading, and keep watching!


	5. Tropospheric Scatter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wanda's got a slew of problems, and whether it's professional or personal, she can usually count on a _wasp_ ish little lady to give her some sage advice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Historian's Note: The following takes place during Avengers #87, and closer to the events of #88.

“I think you should go with a different design altogether.” Janet frowned at the corset-type piece on the mannequin. “Maybe a… a leather jacket, but keep the red.”

The owner of the odd disguise twiddled her thumbs. “I tried a jacket once; I didn’t like it. Too warm. I move around just fine in my current design. I was just wondering if you could adjust it to make it a little more flexible around the ribs.”

Janet Pym’s workspace was part studio, part textile lab. She’d researched and synthesized hundreds of fabrics and materials, and had at least in part designed all of their disguises and outfits. A stack of the latest _Vogue_ publications sat next to a sewing machine, which itself was beside numerous fabric samples with bullet holes in them. Those with merely dents were in another, much smaller pile. _Organized chaos_ , she called it. 

“Right now you’ve got that silk-Kevlar compound.” She sighed and drummed her fingers on a worktable. “I could see what I can do as far as letting the structure give a little more, but I’m not letting your vitals go unprotected. This isn’t the fifties; you _can_ evolve the look a little.”

“Thanks, Jan. You’re a genius.”

“I still think you should lose the cape.” Janet ran her hand down the boning of the corset, ignoring the venomous look coming from behind her. “So, why’d you _really_ call me here, Wanda?”

“I’m not giving up the cape; it’s my favourite…” She grimaced. “…part.”

Slow, steady, intense waves from her friend. Janet typically vibrated on a slightly higher frequency than everyone else, due to her chemical exposure to the Pym particles. At the moment, though, she looked unusually serious.

“To… to talk about a few adjustments, if you weren’t busy, you know.”

Janet leveled her with another look. “Do I need to break into Stark’s private wine collection? Because I will if it’s the only thing that will make you talk.”

“No, no alcohol. It makes my hexes a little off.”

She took a breath.

“…Pietro is mad at me and I made one of Tony Stark’s books disappear into oblivion and I keep having dreams about Arkon and I wake up every two hours feeling like I’m suffocating and I feel cold all over and I was really unkind to Vision and Hawkeye is acting _strange_ around me and the only person I’ve really had a chance to talk to was Mister Jarvis.”

By the end of her monologue, Wanda’s lip quivered and she felt her throat swell with emotion. Her friend lifted her brows and sat down on the adjacent stool. “Wow. I should come back more often.” Janet coughed and rubbed her neck. “Hell, Wanda; why didn’t you say anything? You remember what we said as the Lady Liberators. That we had each others’ backs. …Well, except for Enchantress… she can go…”

A choked laugh worked its way from her throat. “We all know how you feel about her, Janet.” A few months ago, she, Janet, the Inhuman Medusa, Black Widow, and one whom they _thought_ had been Valkyrie had teamed up to prove themselves to their male compatriots. In the end, it had all been a ruse by the Asgardian Enchantress in an attempt to infiltrate the Avengers’ ranks, but the debacle had taught the ladies to rely on each other a little better. The Lady Liberators hadn’t come together again in official capacity, but maybe someday…

“Anyways.” She looked more seriously at Wanda. “Slow down. Tell me what’s going on. I’ve seen the reports you guys submit to S.H.I.E.L.D. but that’s about it.”

And so, Wanda obliged. Slowly, and sometimes tearfully, she recounted the past fortnight, all the way up to yesterday when she’d sent a plea in the disguise of a request for uniform changes. By the end, she’d gone through half a box of tissues and started thinking that a glass of merlot might be nice. Or maybe two glasses. Or maybe half a bottle.

The whole time, Janet had kept quiet, moving only to find tissues at one point and silently prompt her to go on.

“…So, that’s where… where I am now.”

“Well,” Janet began, “I’m going to tell you, first and foremost, that Clint Barton is a skirt chaser even if he doesn’t realize it. Don’t go that way. _Aside_ from that…” Her expression turned more serious again. “I know he’s kind of an imposing figure, but have you thought about contacting Stephen Strange? He’s the expert on the closest thing to your abilities.”

“I don’t know, Jan; he always looks at me strangely.”

“You’ve got to admit, though, that the dreams are worth another look.”

She wasn’t _wrong_. It had been a nightmare which led to their return to Arkon’s homeworld and the subsequent rescue of the kidnapped Black Knight. It had been a miserable trip, but if not for her precognitive hunch, they could have lost their ally and fellow Avenger.

Janet tapped her chin thoughtfully. “How many times did you get that… airless void feeling?”

“I don’t remember every dream,” she admitted. “But almost every night since our trip back to Arkon’s world. Last night, after the message had come through from Sue Storm, was probably the most intense.” Wanda hugged herself. “Sometimes I get the feeling that something _awful_ is going to happen, Jan. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

“What if you tried to find out what happens next?”

“… _What?_ ”

“You know, next, in the dream.” She shrugged. “If you recognize it’s a dream, then you’ll know it’s not real.” Janet leaned forward, her eyes bright with intuition. “What you described to me as that feeling you get at the end sounds like being caught in the vacuum of space. But since it’s just a dream, you can control it.”

“Lucid dreaming,” she said softly. She’d read about it, but never thought about trying. With her mutant hex ability still being mostly unpredictable, she’d always been hesitant. Maybe it was worth a shot, though.

“I’ve seen you overheat a dozen Ultron unit clones and go head to head with three Skrull at a time. I think you can handle this. I _know_ you can. They don’t call you the Scarlet Witch for nothing.” Janet winked and stood.

Wanda stumbled to her feet in turn. “Wait, Jan, I still…” She grimaced when Janet turned to give her a curious look. “You’re the only one I can turn to with this.”

“Gosh, Wanda, you look more worried about whatever’s on your mind than you did just thirty seconds ago. Well, if it’s troubling you more than impending alien threats, go ahead.”

“Vision’s been acting awful strange around me and I don’t know what to do about it or how to feel.”

Janet stared at her before bursting into laughter.

“It’s not _funny!_ ” she insisted, blushing furiously. “I’m serious, Janet; I don’t know what to do!”

“Wanda, dear, Vision acts strange around _everyone_. If you haven’t noticed, he’s about as inhuman as you are, if not moreso.”

“But he’s so… enigmatic, you know? I can’t _feel_ him.”

“Of course you can. You just reach out and…” She stretched out her arm to stroke Wanda’s arm.

She smacked it away. “You know that’s not what I mean.” Still, her face had gotten redder still, perhaps giving even better credence to her mutant namesake. “But yesterday, when his hand touched mine, just briefly, it was like…” Wanda clenched her fist. “I don’t know. It was indescribable. Like when you…” She waved her hand, focusing briefly, and a flash like Jan’s Wasp Sting struck out. “Like static.”

Janet seemed a tad annoyed at having her abilities mimicked, but she shook her hand out and crossed her arms. “Don’t think I could help you there. I’d pull some of Hank’s old files on Ultron, but there’s also the original Torch and a bit of Simon Williams integrated with Vision’s programming. Aside from that, he’s proven to be far more complex than any of us imagined.”

“He seemed a little taken aback when he realized what had happened.”

“Why don’t you just talk to him?”

“ _Talk_ to him?”

“Yeah, _talk to him_.” She rolled her eyes. “Take a look at the calendar, Wanda. It’s nineteen-seventy-two and you’re allowed to talk to your male coworkers.”

“Well… all right, but…”

“What’s the worst that could happen?”

She stared, incredulous. _Really, Janet? You would ask that of the one member of this team whose power is so unpredictable that she doesn’t even fully understand it? The one member whose ability is derived from the process of creating chaos in the space-time dimension? The one member who has been kidnapped twice in the past moon cycle and didn’t have her powers for several fortnights? The one member whose brother is such a damn hothead he might as well take on Johnny Storm’s pseudo?_

Wanda couldn’t say that, though. Not to the one woman she knew she could count on to be an emotional rock when the boys had their heads up their…

“You’re right, Jan.” She tried to smile confidently. “Radio me if you need any new measurements.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: You've probably seen by now I have a propensity for writing short chapters. In my defense, Stephen King has written some hella short chapters, himself. (Also, I just like the way short chapters divide it all up.) 
> 
> One of my favourite things about writing fan-fic is that I get to put all my headcanons into action. I've always felt that Janet (van Dyne) Pym often got the short end of the stick as far as being able to prove herself, and she's just as important as anyone else on the team. Also, being the designer of pretty much everyone's disguises/costumes/etc she must have an incredible understanding of aesthetics, textile engineering, and practical application... while making sure everyone looks snazzy af (for the decade, at least). 
> 
> Also she and Wanda have this really great relationship and bonding is important. Janet has grown so much since _Tales to Astonish_. (*wipes tear away*)


	6. Terahertz Radiation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes, the best way to communicate is without a single word.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Historian's Note: The following takes place just before the events of Avengers #89. The flashback takes place prior to the events of Avengers #57.

Her talk with Janet made her feel a tad better, but not enough to drive away the sting she felt when Pietro came to relieve her at the monitors. She’d barely gotten more than a few chapters through Salinger’s _Franny and Zooey_ in the three hours she’d been at the monitors. Wanda almost prayed for a disaster to occur, just to take her mind off her whirling thoughts.

The door to the comm room opened, admitting her twin. He held a few paperwhite datapads and two thick folders of papers. She quirked an eyebrow at the titles she read: _S.H.I.E.L.D. Classified - Kree Race_ , and an identical marking for the Skrull race. Perhaps she wasn’t the only one trying to keep her mind busy.

“Some light reading?”

He acted as though he hadn’t heard her, and when she gave a mental prod at him, it was like staring at a brick wall. Pietro had learned long ago how to shield himself from her. If she focused, she could break through that barrier, but such efforts weren’t worth it. Wanda huffed quietly and slipped a bookmark into the decade-old publication.

“Major Danvers from the Air Force sent a communique about an hour ago. She was also contacted by the Fantastic Four and wanted to be certain we all knew the present circumstances.”

Her brother grunted and stalked past her. She stood and left the room without another word. Two could play this game. He’d get over himself. Besides, she had more pressing matters to attend to.

 

Just a few minutes later, she stood outside the central courtyard of the Stark Mansion. The sun struck the glass ceiling at such an angle that it beamed down warmly into the green space this time of the afternoon. She hesitated before opening the glass door into the courtyard. Vision was a creature (android? synthezoid?) of habit. He retreated here like clockwork, changing the time with the passing of seasons. The sky was clear above Manhattan today, and Vision thrived on those days.

At least, he usually did.

A worrying feeling turned her gut. Wanda clutched the book in her hands. “...Vision?” She stepped across the grass, looking about. He could become almost invisible to the human eye, but that took energy. She took a seat at a small picnic table set up under a tree. Maybe this was a mistake. Perhaps he had fled upon her approach. Was he even all right? As far as she knew, no one else had bothered to check up on him since yesterday. Janet had been occupied since flying in from Alaska, and Pietro obviously wasn’t going to say a word to her. _What if I really_ did _damage him?_

“I do not always need to recharge the solar jewel.”

She jumped at the sudden company. “Vision! I was...” Wanda cleared her throat and stood. He looked all at once quite concerned. “I’m fine. I did not hear you come in. I was... thinking.” She waved the book. “Reading. Thinking and reading.”

He tilted his head at her in that way he did when he didn’t quite understand what was going on here. “I have never seen you in here before.”

“Well... well, what’s that have to do with anything?”

“It is clear you were looking for me.”

“Maybe I wanted to read in the courtyard.”

“Perhaps.” Vision’s dark eyes traveled over her briefly. “Your shoulders and back are tense. Your pulse is accelerated. I suspect you read in the library most often because it is far more comfortable.”

Blood rushed to her face. “How would you know?”

“Because every Avenger knows you fall asleep in the library.”

_Oh. Right._ Iron Man had once joked about asking Stark to move a daybed into the library. After that, she’d tried to be more careful about not crashing with a text in her hands.

“Which leads into my original query.”

“Right.” She took a breath. “Are you all right? Not just _all systems are functioning at normal levels_ all right but...” (He cast her a look she could only describe as _annoyed_ in response.) “...do you feel all right?”

The Vision didn’t make a sound for the longest time. The silence was even more deafening than usual. Then, “Will you join me, Wanda?” He gestured to a small patch of grass but didn’t offer his hand. She hesitated but took a seat across from him.

 

The sunlight reflected off the solar jewel adorning his forehead, making it glisten. _I’ve never noticed how pretty it is._ She liked the diamond shape on his chest, too, at current covered by a half-buttoned black shirt. The Captain had once told her...

_“We don’t really have a... ‘birthday’ celebration for Vision. But we do for the day he officially came onto the roster.”_

_“Wise to avoid singing Ultron’s praises.”_

_“Nobody chooses the circumstances of their birth, Wanda. But Vision made a choice to be an Avenger. That’s worth a celebration.”_

_“So the clothes were a gift to him.”_

_“Janet’s idea. She doesn’t trust any of us to buy apparel, even for ourselves.”_

“I have yet to ascertain what happened yesterday.”

She blinked out of the daydream. “I haven’t the slightest, either, Vision,” she said. Wanda averted her eyes. “I looked at Hank’s old files on his initial findings about you.” Immediately, out of the corner of her eye, he seemed to close off. The jewel seemed to lose its shine the same as his eyes did when he was on the defense. “I only wanted to see if there was anything, I promise. But it seems that neither Ultron nor the original Human Torch responded to telepathic stimulation. But Simon Williams could.” She tried to perk up a bit. “So maybe it was that part of you trying to communicate in spite of, or because of, my hex abilities.”

“You are quick to seek a logical explanation for me.” Much to her dismay, his expression hadn’t lightened in the least. If anything, it had grown colder. “But that is unlike you, Wanda. Around everyone else you encounter, you at times abandon _all_ logic and seek an empathic response. That is what you bring to this team. That is what I admire most about you.”

“Vision, I’m not sure what you...”

“But you do. You understand the complexity of the universe better than any other. You also understand how it is to be dismissed as _different_ by others when you desire their respect more than anything.”

Wanda frowned, taken aback. Did he really think that? Did he really think that she didn’t respect him? That she was... dismissive?

_Did I hurt his feelings?_

The absurdity of the thought made her start to smile, but he seemed so upset. She clamped down hard on her lip. “Vision, I... I don’t know what to say.” She moved forward a few inches, swallowing her nerves. “So perhaps it is better to keep things left unsaid.” The sorceress extended her hands palm-up to him.

“What do you expect to happen?”

“I’m not certain. But you asked me to trust you, so here I am, trusting you. You asked me to stop making assumptions about you, so tell me something about yourself.”

Very slowly, he stretched his hands out. They dwarfed her own, muscled yet deft like the rest of his synthetic body. But, if only for a moment, she could look past the unnatural red of his skin and see him for what he truly was: a man, both like and unlike every other. She closed her eyes, and with a nod, their palms touched. At the first spark, Wanda gripped his hands in her own and readied for whatever plunge she was about to take.

 

If it was _waves_ she experienced around the rest of the world, this seemed more like a tsunami or even a hurricane. She hoped her corporeal body was still in the courtyard, because at the moment-

_Where am I?_

The black void of this strange place all at once gave way to a bright, blinding light. She floated, ghost-like, trying to maintain her bearings in an environment that made her stomach churn.

_It’s not real, Wanda. It’s just your mind. Or Vision’s._

Where was-?

**_I am here._ **

Her head snapped up. His familiar voice echoed all around her, but the android was nowhere to be found.

**_You asked me to tell you something._ **

Ripples like a stone thrown into water wiped away the void, giving way to a room as cold as the steel it was made of. Fear made her blood run cold. She hadn’t felt this sort of dread since the last time they faced-

_“You are weak!”_

His voice was like gears grinding together. He backhanded a considerably smaller figure, the force sending his victim careening towards a massive computer console. The figure passed through the computer unharmed, but Ultron advanced upon it once again.

_Stop! You’re going to kill him!_ she tried to yell, but no words came. She reached for the chaos energy she so often harnessed, but nothing came to her. The scene shifted again, and she found herself just a meter or two from the two synthetics. The weaker of the two stared up at its creator, crumpled in a heap of unrefined wiring and metal. The nearer she drew, the more she felt –

\- _fear, blistering pain, a kind of weary acceptance, the slow and steady breakdown of willpower, the constant struggle between two warring instincts, the part that was Simon Williams and the part that was Ultron’s influence_ –

\- and her heart wrenched. Wanda watched in horror as Ultron pinned his own creation and drove a metal claw straight through its chest. In an instant, the world vanished from view. Next thing she knew, she -

 

\- slammed back into her physical body. Save for feeling the solid ground beneath her, Wanda could have sworn they were still floating in an existential void. A storm of emotions flooded her being. The sensation knocked the wind from her chest and made her eyes water. Far away, someone called her name, and she knew she was back at the Stark Mansion, but there was so much _pain_ and the sense of being endlessly lost she couldn’t...

Tears leaked out when she lifted her head to see Vision’s very worried face just inches away. She squeezed his hands, heartbroken.

“Vision, I’m... I’m so sorry.”

She let his hands go only to wrap her arms around him. After a moment, the tension left his shoulders and he - somewhat awkwardly - returned the gesture. Where her hand touched the nape of his neck, she could still feel that mix of all-too-human emotion reverberate. Fear. Relief. Exhaustion.

And gratitude.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I know this took forever and I'm actually incredibly frustrated with myself. I needed to initiate some actual communication between these two clueless idiots, though. I'll probably try to edit it a little bit more. It's one of those situations where I know exactly what I want to happen from here on out, but this kind of chapter was maybe better in theory than in practice. I hope you still enjoyed it, though, and bear with me. Thanks for reading!!
> 
> (Also Ultron is a big fat jerk and I don't like him at all.)


	7. Far Infrared

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chronicling the events of _Avengers #89_... from a sorceress' perspective! The past few days had been calm for the Avengers still keeping close watch on the city of New York, but an urgent call from an ally brings Wanda, Pietro, and the Vision into a new kind of fray. They say a woman's intuition is oft impeccable, but Wanda Maximoff is no ordinary woman!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Historian's Note: The following chapter takes place directly within the events of Avengers #89 ("The Only Good Alien.. is a Dead Alien!") taking place primarily within the middle flashback portion. Sincerest apologies to Roy Thomas.

“I’ve never been to Louisiana. I’m a little envious, to tell the truth.”

A bemused smile touched his face. “I seem to recall the last time we had a mission during a rainstorm, you nearly burned your footwear off-”

“-trying to hex them to be waterproof, yes, I remember,” she admitted with a laugh. Wanda swung her legs off the communication console and turned to grin at him. “It wasn’t _entirely_ frivolous. I can’t fly, Vision. Besides, I would look less…” She pursed her lips. “…professional, you know, covered in mud.”

“You always look impeccable.”

She lifted her eyebrows. _That_ came out of his mouth a little fast. She giggled and waved it off. Wanda liked this, though. She liked not awkwardly trying to dodge each other. She liked sitting up here at the usually-static monitors, trading good-natured banter and telling him about all the things Vision couldn’t learn from all the books in the world. He loved hearing about her childhood, the good parts of it, anyhow, and she loved reliving simpler times. It quickly became clear that no one had ever really sat down and just _talked_ to him.

And, she had to admit, there was something to be said for a man whose eyes didn’t wander during a conversation.

Whatever had happened in the courtyard – a joining, a connection, a mind-share – had broken down a wall between them. She still didn’t _sense_ him the same way she did organic beings, but they learned to connect in their own way. Passing each other, sometimes she would brush her hand across his shoulder or let her fingers slip past his. They would find an excuse to “accidentally” bump into one another. In any case, she had to admit that sensing that little bit of happiness from him could make her day. Apparently, though, it showed.

 

_“…So, the boning is a little more flexible now, and you should be fine.” Janet climbed into the quinjet with a small suitcase in hand and set it on the adjacent seat. “And remember to give that new suit to T’challa; would have loved to see all the team but Hank needs me back up north.”_

_She nodded. The rest of the Avengers were due back in only a couple hours, but it sounded like they were taking off again soon, anyhow. Sam Wilson had called in a favor of his best friend, and Steve Rogers would do just about anything for that flying ace. “Remember to check the communication link once in a while, Janet.”_

_“I will, Wanda, promise!” Her smile faded a tad. “Sounds like you guys have an impending disaster, though, based on Susan Storm’s last communique. Maybe you and her should get together and have a premonition-sharing session.”_

_“Your comedic wit is unmatched.”_

_“Oh, and keep me updated on you and Vizh, won’t you?”_

_“But of cour… wait, what are you-”_

_Janet cackled and started up the engine. “Please, Wanda. The casual touches, the fact that you can actually get him to_ smile _, that you don’t look like you’ve got a cloud hanging over you…”_

_“I’m… I’m friends with all the Avengers.”_

_She just winked and closed the hatch, lifting off and into the sky. Wanda hugged herself and snorted in disdain. Well, what did_ she _know, anyways._

 

“Wanda?”

She blinked out of the memory. “Hm?” She followed his dark gaze to the console in front of her. A green light blinked up at her. Low-priority call from a public telephone. Wanda quickly scanned a sheet to determine whose pin number had been activated to contact them. She leaned forward to patch it in.

“Rick Jones, this is Wanda Maximoff. I’m here with the Vision. Steve Rogers isn’t here, but-”

“I don’t need him,” his voice cut in, somewhat irritated. She exchanged a glance with Vision. Jones was a young man who, due to circumstances neither of them really understood, had assisted Captain America on a few missions. He’d been acting stranger over the past few months, but as he wasn’t officially on the roster, the team let him be most of the time. “Have you guys received any… uh… any messages from the Baxter Building lately?”

She nodded at Vision; he knew the message history better than any of them.

“Rick Jones, we received a message from them just after the rest of the Avengers left for New Orleans to investigate an anomaly. Susan Storm had a premonition about a break-in, but they were all required for their own mission. The Fantastic Four requested that we keep watch.”

The voice over the phone seemed nervous. “Well… maybe just keep an extra close eye tonight, yeah?”

“Rick,” she said, not unkindly, “do you know something?”

“I… I can’t say no more, Witchie.” A clatter sounded over the line, maybe shifting the pay phone. “It’s real hard to explain and I don’t got any more quarters. Just maybe don’t expect to sleep in.”

“Rick Jones, if you know something…”

“I gotta go,” he interrupted before Vision could get another word in. “Before Marv… Bye.”

The phone clattered on the other line, and they listened to the dial tone before Wanda flicked it off.

“I should let Pietro know.”

He sat up. “Would you prefer that I did?”

“No, I think we’re all right now.” She’d told him about their spat, but just as she predicted, her brother worked past it as quickly as he could run. She headed for the door, but let her hand brush over his shoulder. _Worry. Alertness._ Vision reached across to place his hand over hers, just briefly. She offered him a smile and a pulse of reassurance.

_Everything will be fine._

She severed the momentary connection but kept it in the back of her mind. How she’d ever mistaken him for a mere machine… _He’s so kind. And thoughtful._ She laughed at herself. _God, Wanda. Get over yourself. You’ll have time to think about that… just not right now!_

 

_“F.F. Alert… Proceed to quinjet area as planned… Repeat, proceed to quinjet area as…”_

Well, it wasn’t as if she hadn’t been expecting this.

Just as predicted, Vision’s voice came over the intercom system just under two hours after Rick’s call. She set aside a book on her pillow and pulled on the boots right at her bedside. Wanda snatched her cloak and headdress from the bedside table and was still adjusting it into her hair once she reached the hangar. Pietro sat at the controls, the jet already running, and Vision held out an arm for her. She grasped his forearm, using it as leverage to jump into the quinjet. Her gloves blocked any telepathic transmissions, but his meaningful determination was clear enough. In a matter of seconds, they were in the air and over Manhattan.

“What’s the situation?”

“Just look to the North, sister.”

She choked on a gasp. Lightning sparked from the Baxter Building at a blinding intensity. The rays had blasted out the windows on an upper floor, but other than that, the Fantastic Four Headquarters looked undamaged. The quinjet made a sharp turn towards the spectacle which had every New Yorker’s eye on one of its most famous buildings.

They hadn’t even stopped near the building when Vision let the hatch slide open. Pietro frowned heavily. “What on _Earth_ do you think you’re-”

“Stop at the window. Wanda and I will scout ahead to cut off the intruder. Set the quinjet on the roof and reconvene on this floor.”

“We will?” she asked at the same time as her brother said, “You _will?_ ”

“You will need to create a barrier around us. Can you do that?”

“I – well – yes, that’s a simple one, but-”

“Good. Perhaps you should see to that.”

He held out a hand near the edge of the deck, and she wrapped an arm around his waist. _Those lightning bolts… if I can’t pull this off, they’ll kill both of us!_ Wanda grimaced and raised her free hand, drawing from the chaos energy around her to create a barrier _._ She dared a last glance at Pietro, trying to reassure him, and with a silent look between herself and the android, she held on tight and he took a single leap into the thirtieth-story window.

 

They’d never seen the Baxter Building in such fantastic disarray. Blinding lightning sparked all around them, and only by sheer force of will did she manage to keep the barrier around them. She loosened her grip around her companion but kept her hand firmly in his.

“Down there!”

They raced hand-in-hand down the hallway, lightning glancing off her barrier. The sparks seemed to be weakening, though, which meant that either the intruder was failing… or succeeding.

The barrier fell just as Pietro zoomed in to join them. They rounded the corner to see a red and black clad humanoid at Reed Richards’ computer console. He had opened some sort of gap, almost like a portal into a black void. The sight gave her pause. It was almost like how her dreams always ended… or when she and Vision had…

Vision’s voice rose above the din, “Stop, intruder!”

The white-haired man whipped about to face them. “ _Avengers!_ Three of you-!” Wanda saw; _felt_ the panic on his face. Sensing something amiss, she held one hand out to block her brother and reached for Vision with the other. She had a hex in mind if worst came to worst, but for now, she had to trust her gut that perhaps he _wasn’t_ their enemy. The man; he seemed strange, maybe even inhuman, but he was _scared_ , not for himself, but for-

“No! You won’t stop me. You _must not_ stop me!” he shouted, almost hysterical in front of the portal he’d opened. “But, I’ve no time to explain, no time to-” The stranger shouted into the void, “Jump, Rick! Jump – _NOW!_ ”

Rick?

_Rick?!_

The three Avengers stared in stunned silence as out of that void came the one young man they’d heard from just a few hours ago. He tumbled in haphazardly, the portal and the lightning that came with it dissipating with his arrival. The red-clad stranger rushed to Rick Jones.

“You came through, lad! You-” The waves of relief turned to concern. “What is it?”

“I-I wasn’t alone when I passed through that hole. There was somethin’ else with me… somethin’ I can feel…” Wanda felt the boy’s fear as strongly as if it were her own. She braced herself before he could even say, “Something that’s here _right now!_ ”

The portal crackled to life for a brief moment, and the four powered individuals grouped together as if by instinct. “The boy Rick speaks the truth,” Vision said. “A living entity stands among us… a thing which radiates an almost palpable evil.”

“Yes, I… I can sense it!” she confirmed, looking to her brother and then the stranger standing protectively near Rick. 

“Something out of the negative zone! Mar-vell, it’s the one you told me about! It’s-”

“ _Annihilus… you simpering juvenile!_ ”

From the void emerged among the most dastardly figures she’d witnessed. The individual marched forward clad in a nauseating array of violet and green, armored not unlike the Skrull, and with shoulderpads as sharp and spiked as his claws. She immediately started recollecting a spell while the alien distracted himself with his own hubris.

_“Annihilus… he who long sought entrance into this world…”_

Wanda felt a kind of prodding at the back of her mind. It was Pietro. She ignored him.

_“…and was denied it…”_

She started forward, letting her determination make sense of the chaos magic she wielded.

_“…and who now shall conquer it, as once he did subjugate the **negative zone**!”_

The Scarlet Witch rushed forward, staring the alien right in the eyes. “Suddenly,” she hissed, channeling the hex through her hands, “it’s very easy to tell _hero_ from _villain_ in this melee. Now to…”

Her blood turned to ice in her veins. She’d launched out one of her most powerful spells, one that had felled even the most complex of foes. The golden waves had glanced off him like pebbles on Captain America’s shield.

“He’s too inhuman!” she shouted to her teammates, letting the spell taper out. _I can’t launch another spell that quickly! I’ll need at least a minute to recharge. Oh, damn these limitations!_ “My hex power won’t-”

“ _You **dare** to speak as if being human were a **virtue**?”_

Pietro rushed forward at a speed so blinding it pushed her out of the way. “Pietro, _NO!_ ” she screeched as he launched himself pell-mell at Annihilus. A wide beam burst from the alien’s chest, knocking her brother straight off. His pain was as her own. Her ears rang with the cold fear that came with a potentially lethal injury. _He’ll be fine, he’ll be fine, he’s suffered much worse—_

Somewhere in the background, she heard Vision order Rick to turn on the transmitter. Wanda stayed near her brother, still near-unconscious on the floor, but snapped her head up.

_“ **Hah!** I was a fool; almost as great a fool, perhaps, as any of you.”_

Their foe began to dissolve back into the reopened void. Her gaze burned red as the cloak flapping wildly across her back. _Good, I will send you back to the negative zone myself; I will make you wish you **were** there if you lay another hand on my brother._

“ _But I will **not** be pulled back; I will **NOT!** ”_

Her gaze cleared when she saw Vision moving closer. Why wasn’t Mar-vell doing anything? _No, no, Vision, let the void take him, Vision don’t do it DON’T DO IT_ —

_“Nor will you dare to let me go, when my going would mean…”_

Annihilus lunged forward just enough to snare the Vision’s arm in his huge claw. The singularity started to pull them both in, and her eyes watered with rage, _Don’t you take him, don’t you dare even think of it!_

_“…that one of your **own** number would go **with** me!”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I'll be honest, I had a _lot_ of fun writing this chapter. However, with this chapter I've realized that the story is really about Wanda and how she relates to everyone around her, and how her abilities tie into her natural intuition and the like.... there's just specific focus at times on her budding relationship with Vision. 
> 
> Another fun fact, several parts of this story (especially in the latter half) take place exactly within the panels of #89! That said, in the spirit of keeping true to the comics, some dialogue is taken directly from Roy Thomas' writing. I suppose you could call this an unauthorized novelization of Marvel comics, but honestly, if I make you want to pick up a volume for yourself, I've succeeded. (Plug for John Buscema, too, who did some great classic art here.) Fan-fiction is, after all, a labour of love for our favourite fandoms!
> 
> (P.S. Never forget that villain monologues are a great time to plan your next move.)


	8. Blackbody Radiation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter reunited the Avengers with an old ally, and in turn, led them to join forces with the Kree warrior, Mar-vell! But what is the black void both Mar-vell and the monstrous Annihilus came from? Will Mar-vell's determination to return both himself and Rick Jones home end up dooming both of them? When one toys with the Negative Zone, the results can be _explosive_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Historian's Note/Disclaimer: The following is a continued pseudo-novelization of Avengers #89. It follows the events of both the real-time and flashback portions, in chronological order, from Wanda Maximoff's perspective. I write this out of love for this storyline, and for the Scarlet Witch! Any and all adopted dialogue is used with the greatest respect and apologies to Roy Thomas, writer and chief editor.

> _Previously..._
> 
> _“Nor will you dare to let me go, when my going would mean…”_
> 
> Annihilus lunged forward just enough to snare the Vision’s arm in his huge claw. The singularity started to pull them both in, and her eyes watered with rage, _Don’t you take him, don’t you dare even think of it!_
> 
> _“…that one of your **own** number would go **with** me!”_

* * *

 

“Annihilus! He’s taking-!”

“Pietro, you _cannot!_ ” She grabbed him by the back of his uniform, but _dear god_ she wanted to do exactly what he’d been about to. “The singularity; it’s too strong!”

Not as strong, though, as their android companion.

In an instant, Vision planted his feet on the floor, and the tiles cracked beneath his boots. Still, Annihilus’ grip was vice-like and for a moment, she feared they would be fighting him for another hour. Then, though, true as ever to his namesake, Vision faded like a ghost.

Wanda could read Annihilus no more easily than she could the Vision, but the fury on his mangled face told her everything she needed to know. The alien had met his match – but that seemed to be a recurring theme with those who went up against the Avengers.

“You boasted of _your_ power, monster,” Vision said, his voice rising above their foe’s agonized yells, “but _that_ … is one of _mine_.”

The moment Annihilus returned to his personal hell of the Negative Zone, Rick punched the controls to shut the portal down. Before his screams had even faded from the laboratory, Wanda rushed over to Vision. He stumbled for a moment, and she caught him while he readjusted his density. She pulled a glove down far enough to brush against him.

_-fear, exhaustion, apprehension over just barely evading a foe so unlike any they’d faced before-_

He grimaced and gently pushed her arm away. She stared at him.

_What are you hiding?_

“-he’s _gone!_ ”

She looked over to see what all the ruckus was about. Then it hit her – the one person who’d been their reason for coming in the first place was nowhere to be found. Her stomach turned uneasily. Only Annihilus had been pulled into the Negative Zone, right?

A familiar whirr outside the lab window caught her attention. “And with him, our quinjet!” She reached out, as if to cast a hex to maybe disable the accelerator, but the quinjet was too fast. “He… he mastered its controls in _seconds_.”

“Then we shall contact him at our leisure,” Vision said, “and assure him that we are on the same…” A panel they hadn’t noticed before started beeping. Apprehensively, he asked, “What instrument is that, which glows thus?”

Pietro was first to recognize it. “It seems to be a radiation-reading device. Some sort of super-sensitive Geiger-counter.” He leaned closer, but the previously-calm device started sparking. Wanda yanked him back before he could get himself hurt for the second time in the last five minutes. “It’s going wild! It’s— _no!_ It’s dying now!”

“That’s where Mar-vell was standing!” Rick piped up. The three turned to the young man expectantly. “I… he picked something up, maybe, during all the weeks I let ’im simmer in the Neg-Zone.” He seemed to shrink under their collective gaze. “Radiation, maybe, that might kill ’im!”

Her head spun under the onslaught of new information. She only knew as much as the S.H.I.E.L.D. database had collected on the Negative Zone. Few had been there, and even fewer had lived to tell of the place. But… if Rick Jones had been there when Mar-vell was here… and Mar-vell’s presence had set off the Geiger counter…

“Tell me, Rick, for I think I have guessed the bond between you, what was Mar-vell’s previously time limit for remaining on Earth?”

His expression seemed bleak. “No more than three hours.”

“Then we must find him and treat him before that period is ended, just to be certain.” Vision scanned the tables before reaching for one of Reed Richards’ many inventions. “Take this weapon, lad. It may help, if and when.”

“If only we knew where to look!”

“I got an idea or two on that score, Quickie…” He holstered the weapon, if reluctantly, at the small of his back. “And it’s startin’ with the sovereign state of Florida!”

 

En route to the Sunshine State, Rick explained at length his full connection to the Kree warrior Mar-vell. Through the most bizarre chain of events she’d _ever_ heard of, it had come to pass that one could not be on Earth without the other being in the Negative Zone. Only the human Rick Jones, though, could stay on the planet for any length of time. A tap of the golden bracers on his wrists – which he had dubbed _Nega-Bands_ – and they would switch places. At all times, though, they were capable of telepathic communication.

Mar-vell, it turned out, had taken on the moniker _Captain Marvel_ when here on Earth. He was a good man – at least, according to Rick Jones, he was. The boy spoke with such sincerity, it seemed more difficult _not_ to believe him.

She sensed he was holding back something, perhaps about the Negative Zone. What good would it do to press the issue, though?

 _That explains why I could read him so well,_ she had mused. _Your instincts had been right, Wanda. You did some good today._ The self-reassurance wouldn’t be worth anything if they couldn’t rescue their newfound ally. If Vision and Rick were indeed correct, then time was of the essence. Sure enough, just outside Miami lay their crashed quinjet.

 

“Okay, Avengers, I did your dirty work for you.” His voice rang with intense bitterness. By the time they’d reached the rooftop where Rick Jones felled the stranded Kree, Mar-vell lay unconscious. “You can come out now and pick up the pieces.”

Wanda rushed to his side. He was burning up, just as they had feared. Or was that his normal temperature? Despite all the trouble he’d caused them, from unwittingly letting Annihilus onto Earth to leading them on a chase around Miami, she felt a pang of pity. From what Rick had told them, he’d only reopened the Negative Zone portal in order to rescue his young friend. From Earth, he’d planned to modify a rocket and use it to return home to the Kree star system.

“I sense bitterness in your tone, young friend. Bitterness where there should be none.”

She heard him scoff at the android’s words. Much to her surprise, though, even Pietro spoke, “You should be proud of what you have done here tonight, Rick.”

She exchanged a glance with her twin. _How very unlike you, brother._ She wouldn’t look the young human in the eyes and lie. She didn’t like that they’d come to this, but knew that it would be better in the end. Wanda rolled the unconscious alien onto his side, hoping to at least keep a _bit_ of his dignity intact. Where his pulse was, she couldn’t know, but his brainwaves felt thready at best.

Vision nudged her aside and carefully scooped Mar-vell up in his arms. Together, the four rushed back to their spare quinjet. It was a short ways to the Cape Kennedy hospital, and yet… what if they were too late?

 

The cabin of their jet seemed unusually quiet, perhaps mirroring the grim situation. Rick and Pietro sat up at the controls, with Vision behind them and Wanda keeping watch over their sickly comrade. She ran her hand over his shoulder, noting the pulse of life she felt there. _His breath is weak. That is a bad sign for most any organic species._ Mar-vell had been so desperate to return home, he’d risked his own death. At the same time, though, he had managed to achieve most all his goals without loss of human life.

_He could have taken off. He could have gone immediately to a NASA base and likely completed his goal in time. Instead, he tried to make certain that Rick Jones, just a normal human boy, would be all right._

“Wanda?”

She lifted her head. How long had Vision been staring at her? It was at times difficult to catch the nuances in his electronic voice. He didn’t move closer, though, so Wanda didn’t reach for answers. She lifted her eyebrows in silent question.

“You seem… strangely silent, Wanda. Is something..?”

She shook her head and once again rested a hand upon Mar-vell’s chest. “I was merely thinking… This man is an alien, marooned here from a distant star. Pietro and I, while partially human, are mutants, and perhaps no more at home on Earth than he!” She sighed. “We are all strangers in a strange land, are we not?”

She tilted her head, watching the synthezoid for any indication of a response. _Talk to me, Vision. You so often endeavor to be more human. Speaking is inefficient… but works just as well!_

If he’d had anything to say, it was lost in Rick Jones’ interruption. With a start, she realized they were at the hospital they’d alerted. “Make yourselves presentable, people. One under-staffed hospital, comin’ right up!”

 

The four burst into the prepared operating theatre, Mar-vell once more in the Vision’s arms.

“-if those costumed _clowns_ we’re waiting for would just show up, we can-”

“Those ‘costumed clowns’ are here, fellow,” Vision interrupted. Wanda had to bite back a smile despite herself. _Picking up on that American humor, are we?_ “Our apologies that human lives do not flow as smoothly as clockwork.”

“The Avengers!” Dr. Donaldson, whom had worked with Hank Pym in the past, seemed oddly surprised, considering they’d called him specifically. _Who was he expecting, the X-Men?_ “I-I’m sorry you had to hear that. My assistant is overwrought, as we all are, I’m sure.” He cringed and quickly changed the subject. “…Strap the alien in the decontamination chair at once!”

Vision surrendered his cargo and stepped back. Rick Jones wasn’t having any of it, though. They’d barely finished securing him when the young man shouted, “‘Alien’?! He’s got a name, Doc. It’s _Mar-vell!_ ”

Donaldson looked at him, exasperated. “Please, son; if what the Avengers radioed ahead is true, there is no time for divisive anger…” He waited for his assistants to lower the apparatus onto Mar-vell’s head, and flipped a switch. “…only desperate action!”

 

The resemblance to the chaos in the Baxter Building was uncanny. Wanda shielded her eyes from the bright sparks of the machine that would hopefully remove all traces of radiation from the Kree’s body. The waves from his waning consciousness came at her with such a force she had to shield her own mind. She reached out and found Vision’s arm. He tensed but didn’t pull away.

“Is… is it working?” She squinted into the red glare, shifting her eyes from Vision to Donaldson, hoping at least one of them knew. “Can we save him?”

“It is too soon to know, my sister.” Pietro looked grave. She responded in kind by gripping Vision’s arm even more tightly. “We must wait.”

“Yes, wait, and pray. Those of us who can.”

She turned to stare at Vision. What… what had gotten _into_ him? Was it something she said?

“I been doin’ that all along,” Rick said from the back. His voice seemed choked. “Please, dear God, he’s got to pull through! He’s _got_ to! ’Cause if he doesn’t – then I’m the one who killed him!”

Vision pulled away from her, stepping closer to their ally. “You did what had to be done, Rick Jones.”

“The machine – the draining-off process has begun.”

She looked hopefully to the doctor, that he might confirm Pietro’s observation. His assistant, though muffled from the radiation suit, hardly had promising news. “We’ve drained off some of the radiation, doc. But there’s more, and we’ve used up nearly all our power.”

“Amazing! The Nega-Radiation is even more powerful than we imagined!”

Hope bled into anger in the space of just those few words. She clenched her fist. “That – insolent-” Pietro grabbed her shoulder. Wanda spun to face him, but he was uncharacteristically serious. She relaxed her hand but still raged internally. Perhaps it _was_ by the grace of some higher being that Mar-vell couldn’t hear the person supposed to be _helping him_ going on like this was some damn Hydra experiment-!

“But if the decontamination isn’t total, the radiation will build up all over again, feed upon itself, until…” Donaldson huffed. “We must find another power source, somehow.”

The Vision stepped up to him. A sense of dread came over her all over again. “Would solar power be sufficient?”

_Vision, what in…_

“It sure would… but where...?”

“From me, Doctor.”

He started explaining how his solar jewel worked, but that same cold fear crept into Wanda’s blood. Pietro took her arm and she slapped his hand away. _He knows what he’s doing, doesn’t he?_ Donaldson said what was on all their minds.

“But if we tap that energy, what about you?”

“I will have to take my chances, Doctor Donaldson.” He scanned the laboratory before gesturing to a machine. She didn’t recognize it off-hand, but supposed it had to be a device capable of storing and harnessing solar energy. No apprehension nor hesitation flickered in his dark gaze as he took a seat across from Mar-vell. “If the Nega-Power within Captain Marvel builds to a critical mass, there will be no chance for any on this planet.”

Donaldson lowered the apparatus, and with a flick of another switch, sealed the unknown fate of far more than just an alien and an android.

“As long as I live…”

Wanda whispered the words under her breath, choking back unexpected tears. Pietro’s hand found hers as the machine whirled to life, and this time, she didn’t refuse it.

“…and until I die…”

The theatre darkened before once more washing in shades of red. She shook away the tears that blurred her sight, watching as a white-hot beam streamed from Vision’s solar jewel directly at the radiation negator. He was strong; they all were. This would work. It had to!

“…I am…”

Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch, sister, daughter, friend, and wielder of a magic as strong as the universe itself, drew hope and strength from both Pietro, the one whom had always been by her side, and the Vision, the one whom she had only just begun to know… just begun to…

“…an Avenger!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So I may have cranked this chapter out in the span of two days. If that seems fast to you, keep in mind I've done (and completed) NaNoWriMo at least three times. That means, I'm capable of whipping out almost 1700 words a day. (No, that doesn't mean you'll get that. Nor am I inclined to do NaNo this year, since I'll have finals studying coming up by the end of November.) 
> 
> Anyhow... are you confused what on Earth I'm doing with Wanda? Don't worry! Me too! (Kidding.) It's always been my observation that in addition to being an incredibly powerful mutant and overall smart and badass lady, her true power has always come from her heart. She is able to very easily empathize with those around her. She's incredibly compassionate and in touch with human (and uh, otherwise) emotion. 
> 
> Thanks as always for reading! Oh, and have a wonderful Halloween, everyone!


	9. Zodiacal Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heedless of his own well-being, the Vision decided to offer his own energy reserves as a way to power the machine which would cleanse the radiation from the alien Mar-vell's body. While both recover, the others take the well-needed moment to breathe... even if it is _only_ a moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Historian's Note: The following... still takes place during Avengers #89, technically. (in fact you could probably skip this chapter, but why on Earth would you want to, even though its only purpose is to try and keep these losers developing?)

“Stop! Any more might kill them both!”

Donaldson’s assistants immediately went to shut down the white-hot beam sourced by their android team member. Wanda started towards Vision, only to be stopped by a tight hand in her own.

“Sister, it’s not safe.”

She wrestled her hand free. “I don’t care,” she choked out. “Neither was what he did.” A red aura surrounded her hand as she tried to focus enough to create a protective hex. “I’ll… I’ll make a barrier, I’ll…”

The doctor approached her, looking grave but not hopeless. “Miss Maximoff, I beg of you, please do not. From what Hank Pym has told me, the nature of your hex spheres are unpredictable. The wrong interaction with the radiation particles still lingering could spell disaster for all of us, including your teammate.”

Wanda clenched her fist to reabsorb the spell. Across the floor, their ally and their friend both looked as unconscious as they’d ever been. Mar-vell slumped over, and the Vision sat rigid as a statue. Both were moved onto gurneys, though it took four to move Vision’s massively increased density. Hopefully, that meant he’d become rigid enough to withstand the strain of having so much energy depleted.

Behind them, Rick Jones stood chewing a fingernail, seemingly oblivious to the world except for the alien he shared such a strange connection with. His gaze continually flickered to a Geiger counter set up nearby, which indicated the radiation levels were almost back to normal. It had worked, then, provided that the particles didn’t rebuild within Mar-vell’s body.

“…seem so terribly still, doc,” an assistant said. “Are they...?”

She jerked her head up.

“They will both survive, if I have calculated correctly.”

_If you haven’t, I swear I will drag you to New York and give you the same fate as Annihilus._

Pietro gave her a look of such concern she worried she might have said the words out loud. She crossed her arms and blocked him off for the moment. Sometimes, even for one with no psychic capability beyond what normal humans possessed, he was a little _too_ intuitive.

“I only pray that I have.”

“Doctor Henry Pym has often told us of how you once worked together,” Pietro said. “He has complete confidence in your judgment.”

“I suppose, then, that we could not have less,” she muttered in doubtful agreement.

“I saw the Vision breathin’, or whatever he does. But Mar-vell looked so still… he…” Rick gripped the barrier separating them from their comrades so tightly it turned his knuckles white.

Wanda reached her mind out just enough to sense the young man’s pain. Rick Jones was unusually closed-off for someone who never tried to conceal his feelings about any given situation.

“Come, Rick. We can do nothing now.”

“Yeah, Quickie, but we’ve done enough, ain’t we? Maybe too much.” He radiated an odd mix of hot and cold waves, simultaneous fear and anger. “All Mar-vell wanted as to make it back to the world where he was born. And now, he may never see it again!”

Rick turned with a huff, tugging his crimson jacket tighter around his body. He bumped his shoulder against Pietro, and looked ready to say something to Wanda, but something made him stop. He shook his head and hurried into the hallway outside the radiation zone. After a pause, she followed.

 

This part of the hospital, while secluded for secrecy’s sake, seemed unusually cold. Wanda found the young man slumped up against the wall, hugging himself tightly. He didn’t even look up at the _click, click, click_ of her heels on the linoleum. Unfriendly fluorescent lighting flickered in the wake of the chaos inside the lab. She stopped and settled herself on the floor a meter or so from him. She knew better than to speak. If he wanted to, though, he would.

After several long minutes, he did. “Lunatic alien interrupted my gig.” When Wanda lifted an eyebrow in question, Rick sighed and looked to the ceiling. “Wasn’t nothin’ big, but first time people were paying to see me. Cover charge at the door. Only a buck, but the owner liked me and said I’d get every penny. I’m a musician; did’ya know that?” He barked out a laugh. “Next thing I know I’ve got the headache of the century and Mar-vell yellin’ in my noggin. Hadn’t heard from him in a couple weeks. Sure was nice to be able to walk around without worrying about lookin’ like a _schizo_ , but you get used to the company.”

She smiled to herself. “I know the feeling, Rick Jones.”

“That so, Witchie?”

“Mm, yes. The world around me, and all its people, are a kind of… white noise.”

“Like a busted boob tube.”

“Not quite so irritating, but yes,” Wanda agreed. She felt his mood lighten a little. “When I come to know someone well, I can recognize them simply by what I think of as a mental signature. Your friend’s is particularly distinctive.”

“You can sense him? Like me?”

“No, I am sure it is not to that extent. But I know that Captain Marvel is incredibly strong-willed, and I sense the same in you, Rick.” When he scoffed, she shifted to face him. “I mean what I say. He will pull through this, and so will you. This…” Wanda tapped her temple. “…and this…” She then touched her heart. “…are stronger than you know.”

Rick gazed at her askance. “You know everyone like this, Witchie?”

“No, thankfully. I have never touched the mind of a fully mechanized being, nor Annihilus, though I daresay I would never try.”

“What ’bout your friend Vizh?”

Her smile faded. “He is… elusive. But he is kind, and strong, and as much an Avenger as any of us.” _On that note…_ She gathered up her cloak and rose. “I should check on him.”

“If Mar-vell is awake, can you..?” Rick looked so hopeful. She almost felt guilty for exaggerating her insight into their connection. Wanda was certain, however, that Mar-vell wouldn’t benefit from his connected human wallowing here in the adjacent corridor. She nodded in promise and returned to Donaldson’s lab.

 

“Pietro, is Vision..?” She bumped into – and nearly tripped over – a large object. “…Oh.” There on the ground sat her brother, snoring softly. She almost forgot they had stayed up almost all night, and their fight against Annihilus just six or so hours ago had taken quite a lot out of him. Wanda stepped over him and into the main operating theatre. “Doctor Donaldson, may I..?” 

The doctor, his eyes buried in an in-progress report, grunted in affirmation and waved her on. His assistants still attended occasionally to Mar-vell. She grabbed a chair and sat down next to her comrade but resisted the urge to place a hand on him. He’d protested earlier and the last thing she wanted was to alienate him further.

“Vision?”

He stirred ever so slightly. Those dark eyes flickered open, and shone upon meeting her gaze. Relief flooded her heart so suddenly she had to hold back tears welling in her eyes.

“How are you?”

Vision opened his mouth to speak, but words failed. He moved to sit up and held out a hand. Only when she took it-

_\- still weak, inadequate sunlight_

_You should rest._

_is mar-vell_

She glanced over her shoulder. The assistants seemed wary but confident.

_Recovering, I think. You came too close to being completely drained, Vision._

He closed his eyes with a sigh.

_world worth it, could not risk innocents, own risk was acceptable_

_You are the pinnacle of an Avenger. To a fault, perhaps._

Vision sent her a feeling she could only describe as _simpering_.

_ran directly before hellish alien from unknown void;_ I _am the pinnacle?_

She laughed for what felt like the first time in ages, even though it had only been last night they were exchanging banter in the communications room. He needed solar power, though. She looked around but didn’t see anything. _I’m not as strong as him, but maybe I can do something._ She focused on the energies in the air, and after a minute, managed to form a tiny ball of light between her hands. Wanda cast it before him and let it hover over the solar jewel. The manufactured sun illuminated the unusual shine he always had about him, and for just a moment, she let herself admire it.

All at once, exhaustion caught up with her. Before she fully realized what she was doing, she moved closer and laid her head on his warm chest. She needed to stay in close enough proximity to maintain the spell, right? No harm trying to regain a little energy of her own. Her eyes slipped closed, and for the first time in weeks, no nightmares plagued her respite.

 

She sprang awake at a strong vibration. With a start, she realized she’d fallen asleep right on Vision’s chest. Her face burned with embarrassment, but if anyone had noticed, they didn’t say as much. The tiny star had since extinguished, but Vision stirred.

_Maybe he didn’t notice I was there._

Wanda was a little glad when the ground quaked again. Glasses rattled on tables, and across the room, Donaldson’s pen rolled onto the floor. In just a moment, the shaking roused her brother and had prompted Rick to hurry back in.

“Did you guys feel that?” he exclaimed, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. “I crashed out in the hallway, and felt some weird shakin’-”

The ground rumbled again, this time hard enough to send a handful of beakers crashing onto the floor. By now, Vision had managed to sit up and started to move off the gurney. Rick and Pietro rushed over to join the other Avengers when a fourth quake created huge cracks in the floor, just about knocking the youngest among them onto his back.

Outside, gunfire rang a different hallway. _Armed guards? In a hospital? A secret wing, yes, but-!_ Another crash, this time against the wall. Wanda moved to shield the still-recovering Android, hands up, ready to face whatever slammed once, twice more into the wall.

“Rick, you need to run, _now!_ ” Pietro yelled.

“ _I’m not leaving him!_ ”

Beside Rick, Donaldson shook his head in disbelief and went for a syringe. “Then we must move him, quickly!” He’d already evacuated his assistants, so it was just the six of them now. “Quicksilver, hold him down; this compound should stabilize him enough to-”

The doctor’s words choked off when, for the second time that day, a colossal figure crashed through uninvited. The wall shattered like glass, and Wanda started to wonder if they’d found themselves a fugitive, more than a tragic hero.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: "Tiny filler chapter"? Maybe. "Michaela really really wanted to write some ridiculous fluff and officially render Wanda Maximoff the Mom Friend"? That's fair. "The author has also read way too much into two characters who will definitely never have a coupling in canon or otherwise like one might expect"? Okay that's going a little far. But here's to a breather before we go through the ordeal of hurting Vision some more! I mean... uh... stay tuned!


	10. NIR Flux

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the rude entrance of a Kree Sentry before the Avengers and their allies can take their leave, the small team learns that when it comes to interstellar diplomacy, actions often speak much, much louder than words!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Historian's Note: The following takes place during the first half of Avengers #90.

The hulking behemoth loomed over them, oblivious to the debris falling on it. Her mind raced. Such a fantastic robot would prove impervious to her hexes, but she had a few tricks up her glove. Behind her, though, Vision touched her arm. Wanda frowned, but he shook his head.

“The colossus hesitates. It is perhaps intelligent.”

The creature spoke in a voice booming enough to shake the fragile walls:

“Kill the man called Mar-vell – and all who stand beside him. Thus my orders, and thus my intent!”

The colossus took another step forward, and Wanda backed up to shield her weakened comrade. The flickering lights reflected off its metallic frame, gleaming shades of blue and violet. It was not so unlike the armor donned by Annihilus, she mused. The Negative Zone creature had shown few weaknesses, save for the portal Reed Richards created.

“I am Intergalactic Sentry 459, living instrument of the star-spanning Kree race.”

She snapped her gaze over to Rick and Mar-vell. It seemed, though, that Rick was just as clueless about this “Sentry” as any of them. She was truly tiring of this intergalactic affair.

“From beyond the void, Ronan the Accuser has bade me capture and execute the Kree traitor you call ‘Captain Marvel’. Stand away from him, for I have no business with you others. But defend his motionless form, and you shall perish. The choice is yours.”

She sighed and started drawing in for her next hex. _When will they learn that ultimatums don’t work with we Avengers?_

Donaldson finally snapped out of his paralyzed shock. “N-no! This man’s just recovering from a delicate operation!” For the first time, true fear crept into his voice. “If you move him now, he’s sure to die!”

“Didn’t you _hear_ , Doctor? That is what the Sentry wants!” Pietro shouted back, fists up and poised to spring. She shot him a warning glance. “Still, the way he hesitated; even warned us…”

“He isn’t certain he can defeat us.” Wicked determination bolstered her. Still, if only Goliath were here to match the monster for every kilo, or if Vision weren’t still weakened from aiding Mar-vell… The odds were against them. They were but three of many Avengers, lacking Iron Man’s technology or Captain America’s military background or Thor’s alien prowess.

Fortunately, odds didn’t mean much to the mistress of chaos magic.

 

“There is no choice, Sentry,” she announced, knowing the others would agree, “when our friends are at stake!” Her hands glowed as she drew upon the energy of the universe. To her allies, she called, “Stay back! My hex power may-!”

“Foolish female!” the Sentry boomed even as her hex lanced out. The ceiling splintered above him, creating cracks even wider than before. _Keep talking; god forbid we ever meet an enemy who doesn’t wag their tongue so much._ “No puny efforts of _yours_ can harm my indestructible frame.”

_Do you wish to place a wager on that claim?_

“It wasn’t _you_ I was aiming at, Mister so-called Sentry,” she said with a confident but anxious grin, “but the badly splintered ceiling overhead!”

The ceiling caved in at a single thought. The Sentry had barely looked up before it crumpled down upon him. Briefly, at least, the machine lay buried under at least a tonne of drywall and cement. Wanda looked to Donaldson. “Doctor, we need to move Mar-vell, before-”

She had not even time to finish her thought before the metalloid burst from the rubble. The Sentry was even harder to read than Vision or even Annihilus, but _fury_ seemed an appropriate description for him. She cursed and managed to alter the trajectory of the flying debris just enough to avoid hitting any of them.

“-shakin’ it off like a duck shedding water!”

Wanda must have shot Rick a harsher look than intended because he grimaced. _I don’t see you trying to take down a five meter tall robot or coming close to death._ She tightened her jaw and tried to refocus. He was just a kid. He was probably stressed. The Sentry had taken to mouthing off again-

“You have made your choice, Earthlings, and now…”

-which of course, Pietro took as a challenge.

She looked up as her brother launched forward. He was but a blue-white blur, landing blow after blow upon the Kree guardian, throwing his whole weight into his attack. With enough acceleration, the force would have toppled any organic opponent. He’d honed that to near-perfection.

But a robot was not a human. It didn’t have pressure points; weak spots; vulnerabilities. One swipe, and the Sentry knocked Pietro away. It wasn’t even a forceful strike; more akin to shooing away an irritating insect than anything else. As if they were just an inconvenience.

“Brother!”

Wanda gathered up enough energy to slow his fall and immediately raced to his side. “Pietro, we can’t – we need to leave this place.” Her pride stung at the admission, but she hadn’t accepted a place on the Avengers’ roster to protect her ego. They needed to get out of here; regroup and try and get Mar-vell and Vision back to full strength, and _then_ perhaps-

Pietro’s eyes went wide. “Vision! _No!_ ” She whipped her head around to see the Sentry facing down their last team member. The synthezoid stared up at the machine, daring it to take him on.

 

Wanda’s heart seemed to lodge itself in her heart. Every fiber of her being screamed at her, _stop him, stop him before he gets himself killed and you’ll never see him again,_ but she couldn’t. She couldn’t risk another hex if she ended up needing the energy to get them all out of there. Out of the corner of her eye, Pietro moved, and she held him back. The Sentry launched out a white-hot beam, and Vision took every blistering moment of it, determination as dense as his body.

_I have to trust him._

“It is too late, my brother.” She fought back her fear, her grip on his arm tightening. “We can only pray that the android Avenger can withstand such a withering barrage.”

The assault stopped, leaving the Vision unharmed except for a glowing patch upon his torso. It went away as he readjusted his density, moving once more to stand between the Sentry and Mar-vell. The Sentry spoke once more:

“One last time, step aside, for behind you is a man of the Kree. He is _mine_ to punish. He is _mine_ to destroy.”

Vision’s voice seemed scratchy, almost broken in response. “He is in the Avengers’ keeping now, monster, and there shall he remain…” He braced himself as the Sentry charged forward, halting its advance by sheer force of will. “..though the Kree hordes themselves come for him!”

The Sentry struggled to move, for the first time seeming to have met his match. “We are androids both, you and I; far above mere humankind.” The larger mechanoid struggled against Vision, almost pushing the synthezoid into the floor below. “It is not meet that we should fight their battles for them. Yet, if you force it upon me, I shall…” A strained noise echoed as the Sentry once again failed to move his opponent. “ _What?_ You become more dense – more massively solid – with each moment.”

“That is my power, Sentry,” he managed, almost pushing the Kree machine back. “My strength!”

But as Wanda and her brother had both learned, it only took a moment for a strength to be transformed into one’s greatest weakness.

Before she could move to prevent it, the earth shattered and the two collapsed into the chasm. She, Pietro, and Rick all hurried to the edge, prepared to aid their comrade, but from the ashes rose…

…the Sentry.

 

“Fools! Could you doubt the outcome of such a match?” He scoffed and landed heavily upon the floor beside Mar-vell, knocking Dr. Donaldson away and quickly retrieving his prize. “But I have wasted time enough here. I have received new orders.”

In the Sentry’s arms, Mar-vell stirred. The three remaining allies ran to take him on once more, only to be knocked away, already weakened from the earlier fight.

“All shall be accomplished by Plan Atavus.”

Mar-vell struggled to consciousness. “P-plan...? _No!_ ” Panic rose in him so sharply it struck Wanda’s mind like a knife. “Kill me _here_ , Sentry, _now!_ Don’t – use that-!”

“Your traitor’s words mean nothing to me, Man of the Kree.” Right before their eyes and the eyes of a dozen S.H.I.E.L.D. guards, he started to vanish into a state beyond mere intangibility. “I have new orders which countermand the old… and I go to fulfill them!”

 

In a flash, they both vanished. It took several moments for Wanda to find her voice again.

“They’re… gone. Both of them.”

“But _where?_ ” Pietro turned wide-eyed to stare at Rick Jones, who blanched in response. “Rick, did Mar-vell ever tell you of a Plan Atavus?”

“I – not a word, Quickie,” he choked out. “’Course, he never told me a Kree Sentry could just up and vanish, either. But it did.”

Something hit her. She’d nearly forgotten.

“Pietro, the… the Vision!”

“…is here, Wanda.” Her face lit up as his voice, though muted, echoed in the courtyard the Sentry had escaped through. He graced her with the faintest smile. “And appreciative of your concern. Weakened as I was, it took a moment to recover from the Sentry’s onslaught.”

Pietro and Rick filled him in on the situation, but just as they were about to leave, a blonde-haired woman in her mid-twenties hurried over. “Avengers, wait! I must speak with you! I’m Major Carol Danvers, head of Cape Security.”

“I fear we’re in a hurry, Major-”

“You’re not the only ones,” she interrupted, seeming a bit perturbed Vision didn’t immediately cease. Officially, the armed forces didn’t have jurisdiction over the Avengers. “I need a full report from each of you on what just happened.”

Exasperated, the Vision retorted, “But, we must go-!”

“Oh? Where to?” Danvers snapped back. Wanda hid an amused smile. She was glad Vision was all right, but he didn’t seem to realize quite how Air Force rank worked. “How do you pursue something that disappears, hm?”

“…She has a point there, Avenger,” Pietro said.

 

Major Danvers led them to an undamaged wing of the now-empty hospital, where they one by one gave her a brief but thorough account of what happened. Once Pietro had finished, she officially dismissed them.

“Thank you, and I’m sorry to have delayed you.” Briefly, the tough exterior weakened, and Danvers said, “I hope you can save Mar-vell, just as he once saved me.” Wanda cocked an eyebrow at the Air Force officer in silent question, but she didn’t probe.

Their exchange went unnoticed by Pietro, who merely promised they would do their best. With nothing further, they hurried back to the quinjet, off to form their next plan of attack.

 

Back on the jet, en route to New York, Rick detailed as best he could all he’d learned about the Kree. Some of it, Wanda already knew, such as that the Kree had reportedly come to Earth thousands of years beforehand, bringing knowledge and intellect to a select group of humans, who would later become the Inhumans. The Inhumans, however, had developed far beyond what the Kree had predicted, and so had the rest of humanity, if technologically rather than biologically.

Mar-vell had come to Earth as part of a Kree military operation. It had been, essentially, a pre-emptive strike against what _could_ be a threat to his own homeworld. Instead, he’d come face to face with the Skrull, and in his fighting alongside humans to defeat the rival alien race, decided to renounce his heritage and ally himself with humanity.

After a devastating battle against Annihilus, though, Mar-vell found himself dragged into the Negative Zone, and through circumstances they still didn’t understand, fate had tied him to young Rick Jones.

“…and if you can wade your way through all that, the Kewpie Doll is yours.”

The reference went over her head, but she reached over to touch his arm. “You still blame yourself for what happened to Mar-vell, but you mustn’t. Your friend chose a life apart – one full of danger – the moment he decided to return to Earth.”

“Rick,” Vision added from beside Pietro at the helm, “any who belong to the breed called ‘superheroes’ are, by definition, misfits. I speak not only of those of us in this ship, but those Avengers still on a mission of their own. We know the risks we take, but they are worth taking, because we, just as Mar-vell, know that good people are worth protecting.”

“We will find him. I promise.”

He nodded solemnly at the Scarlet Witch’s promise, and they spent the rest of the flight in silence.

 

They had barely even landed in the Stark Mansion hangar when a klaxon blared, alerting them to an urgent message. The four exchanged glances and Pietro hurried to patch it through the hangar’s comm system.

The pre-recorded message came up, and Clint Barton’s face filled the screen. Contrary to his usual swagger and sometimes inappropriately timed humor, he looked genuinely worried.

“ _This is your ten-foot toreador talkin’ at ya, crew. Just got a call from Janet Pym – Hank’s own ever-lovin’ spouse – otherwise known as the wonderful Wasp. Didn’t get it all, but seems there’s trouble brewin’ up in Alaska, where she and Hank are. So, I’m off for the big icebox, and hopin’ the rest of you aren’t too far behind me. This sounds big. Over and out, Goliath.”_

A worrying feeling in her gut told Wanda that perhaps this unknown disaster and Mar-vell’s recent capture weren’t so isolated from each other at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: It took a long, long time, but it happened! I finally finished the tenth chapter! I'll admit it was a little difficult to find motivation considering it feels like I have 2 readers.. but even just the one I know digests every letter is worth it. Shoutout 'cause you know who you are! (Also I apologize because transcribing comic book fight scenes is hard. I like how the last two fight scenes have literally been Wanda, Pietro, Vision, in that order.) 
> 
> Also I gave Carol Danvers one of her initial USAF ranks because I do what I want to.


End file.
